Kosovo, a province of the Republic of Serbia, has unilaterally declared its’ independence on February 17
Is it not the turn of Punjab (Khalistan) to unilaterally declare its’ independence next?

On Sunday (17 February) Southeastern Europe, (and the free, prosperous and alert 3 million strong Sikh diaspora) witnessed the courageous members of the Kosovo provincial assembly unilaterally declare their country’s independence, from the landlocked Republic of Serbia, thus ending a long and bloody chapter in the break-up of former Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.

Landlocked Kosovo will be the sixth independent state carved, since 1991, out of the former Serbian-dominated Yugoslav federation after Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro.Land-locked ‘Republic of Kosovo’ (largest city Pristina. Area; 4, 203 sq. miles or 10, 887 sq. km., population about two million as compared to Indian occupied Punjab’s area of 19, 445 sq. miles or 50, 362 sq. km., and population of 25 million) won the diplomatic recognition of eight countries including the United States and its biggest Western European allies France, Germany, Italy and Britain within 24 hours of the unilateral declaration of independence, on Sunday, 17 February, 2008. Independent Kosovo also earned rebukes and rejections from Serbia, Russia, China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and a few other countries.

Among European Union members, Cyprus, Spain, Romania and Slovakia have also expressed reluctance to recognize Kosovo. Turkey, (which ruled the ‘Valayet of Kosovo’, from 1455 A.D. to 1912 A.D. as the Ottoman Empire) despite its own history of conflict with its’ Kurdish minority separatists, has magnanimously chosen to recognize Kosovo’s independence right away. European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have also appeared to have reached a minimal common position, acknowledging that Kosovo had declared independence and allowing those nations that want to recognize it formally, to do so.

The 54-member OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) has also welcomed Kosovo’s unilateral independence. India, according to media reports, is actively considering its stand and appears tilted towards the negative view taken by Serbia, Russia, China, Spain, Romania, Sri Lanka  ( http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/19/stories/2008021959721000.htm ) and some European countries. It is obvious that the doubt and double-talk of the Indian rulers about independent Kosovo are fanned by Delhi’s fears about the nationalistic aspirations for independence of a number of ‘nations’ held captive by India, since 1947, like Kashmir, Nagalim, Assam, Sikkim, et al., in general and Khalistan in particular.

For the benefit of our Khalistani readers a few background hours of the unilateral declaration of independence, on Monday questions and answers about Kosovo and its’ unilateral declaration of independence are listed below:- What is Kosovo, why and how did it declare independence?
Before independence, Kosovo was a province of Serbia (read Yugoslavia) at the country’s southern tip in southeastern Europe, home to about 2 million people of whom only about 120, 000 (or 4%) are ethnic Christian Serbs. The rest (92%) are ethnic Muslim Albanians, 2% are Bosniaks, 1% are Roma (Indian) Gypsies, and 1% are Turks. Kosovo is cherished by Serbs as home to celebrated Serb Orthodox monasteries, and as the site of the battle of Kosovo, in 1389 A.D., in which Serbs battled, but were ultimately defeated by the armies of the Ottoman Empire. Kosovo province has been under U.N. administration (protectorate) and is patrolled by 16, 000 NATO troops since the 1999 seventy eight day NATO air bombing campaign that halted a Serb-led military campaign against Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority’s separatist movement - which had bubbled for 40 years.

Kosovo has an unemployment rate of around 60 percent (yes 60%) and an average monthly wage of $250. Following the end of the Yugoslav civil war, (in which tens of thousands from the minority communities were ethnically-cleansed – murdered - by the majority Serb community) the United Nations’ Security Council passed Resolution 1244, in 1999. The U.N. resolution placed Kosovo under the authority of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), with security provided by the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR), legally reaffirmed Serbia’s sovereignty over the region. After numerous UN-sponsored negotiations failed to reach a consensus on an acceptable constitutional status, Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian leadership (Kosovo’s provisional government) unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February, 2008, terming itself as the Republic of Kosovo.

Can Serbia retaliate against Kosovo is a question that comes to mind? The answer is yes, but it won’t militarily. All politicians in Belgrade (capital of Serbia) oppose independence for Kosovo, but all have ruled out any new armed intervention. Serbia’s response is therefore, likely to be economic and diplomatic. Serbia could cut electricity and water supplies to Kosovo, refuse through travel for Kosovo’s citizens, while the 120, 000 Serbs (4% of the population of Kosovo), who dominate the north of Kosovo, could be encouraged to riot and try to secede from the new state of Kosovo.

Who can Serbia rely on for backing? Russia. With a common Slav and Orthodox background, it is Serbia’s natural ally. But the Kremlin has also seized on Kosovo as a valuable bargaining chip in its increasingly confrontational attitude to the West. Its support has already borne fruit, with a Russian takeover of Serbia’s national oil company for a fraction of its value. It is also using Kosovo as a diplomatic weapon, saying it sets an example to all countries harboring regions with separatist ambitions - from Spain to Moldova.

What is the economy of Kosovo like? Kosovo, a mountainous country, has one of the most underdeveloped economies in Europe, with a (2004) per capita income estimated at Euro.1, 565. Despite substantial development subsidies from all Yugoslav republics, during the past fifty years, Kosovo was the poorest province of Yugoslavia. Additionally, over the course of the 1990s a blend of poor economic policies, international sanctions, poor external commerce and ethnic conflict severely damaged the economy of Kosovo. Most economic development in Kosovo, since 1999, has taken place in the trade, retail and the construction sectors. The private sector that has emerged, since 1999, is mainly small-scale. The industrial sector remains weak and the electric power supply remains unreliable, acting as a key constraint. Unemployment remains pervasive, at around 40-50% of the labor force. The province’s economic weakness has produced a thriving black economy in which smuggled petrol, cigarettes and cement are major commodities. The prevalence of official corruption and the pervasive influence of organized crime gangs have caused serious concern internationally. The United Nations administration in Kosovo has made the fight against corruption and organized crime a high priority, pledging a ‘zero tolerance’ approach.

According to the New York Times major powers, including France, Germany and Britain, along with the United States, who have officially recognized Kosovo, are taking pains to point out that the recognition should not serve as an invitation or precedent for other groups hoping to declare independence. That is because one of the biggest unknowns remains whether Kosovo’s declaration could rekindle conflicts elsewhere, including in ethnically divided Bosnia. Reverberations are already being felt from the enclaves of Abkhazia (area 3, 320 sq. miles or 8, 600 sq. km.,) and South Ossetia (1, 506 sq. miles or 3, 900 sq. km.) which two entities have achieved and maintained de facto independence, with Russian-backing, from the republic of Georgia on the Black Sea.
The remarkable gutsy act of independence of dirt poor Kosovo, (very poor by European standards) against such heavy odds, and with hardly any resources, should be food for thought for the world’s 26 million Sikhs, 3 million free and prosperous in the diaspora and 23 million captive in India. It is therefore, high time for the Sikhs to unite in an effort to give meaning to the Sikh prayer of ‘Raj Karega Khalsa’, which ALL Sikhs repeat in their Gurdwaras every day, by creating ‘facts on the ground’.

Area and population comparison of Khalistan with the six independent states which have emerged after the breakup of the federation of Yugoslavia 

Country Area in Sq. miles Population 2005 estimate
Bosinia & Herzegovinia 19, 767 sq. miles 4, 562, 000
Croatia 21, 831 sq. miles 4, 430, 000
Kosovo 4, 203 sq. miles    2, 100, 000
Macedonia 9, 779 sq. miles 2, 038, 000
Serbia 34, 116 sq. miles 7, 498, 000
Slovania 7, 827 sq. miles 2, 023, 000

Indian-occupied Punjab Khalistan 19, 445 sq. miles 24, 289, 000

If dirt poor two million Kosovans can have the guts to unilaterally declare their independence there is no reason why the twenty six million Sikhs cannot do something similar. Sikhs should NEVER forget that “Raj Karega Khalsa”, prayer translates on the ground into an independent, democratic, water-and-food-rich, buffer state of Khalistan whose strategic location would enable it to prosper and act as a bridge of peace and commerce between South and Central Asia. Khalistan would Import Oil, Natural Gas, fruits and precious stones from Central Asia and export food, textiles, hosiery and light engineering goods etc., from South Asia while selling Punjab’s river water to parched Pakistan. 

Raj Karega Khalsa